FateNinja: Unlimited Kunaiworks
by Genocidecles
Summary: After Rin bites off more than she can chew with a dimensional research experiment she, Shirou and Arturia end up dead and reincarnated in the world of Naruto! How will these mages and their heroic spirit adapt to the world of ninja? By kicking ass and taking names that's how!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sound of chalk on stone echoed through the small underground laboratory, in the dim lighting a young girl kneeled near the center of the room as she worked on the symbols at her feet. Long dark hair tied into two pigtails by black ribbons framed a face furrowed in concentration. Rin Thosaka had been working down here all night trying to make progress on her family's legacy. Sitting in the center of the room upon a small altar was the hilt of a sword, a sword whose creation had been a work in progress for hundreds of years. The founder of her family had been lucky enough to be gifted with the blueprints of the unique artifact known as the jeweled sword of Zelretch, a blade that could supply its wielder with unlimited mana by tapping into and stealing it from alternate dimensions. The immortal sorcerer Zelretch had taken note of her progress in the project, making more headway into the research than the last three of her forbearers combined, as evidenced by the additional three inches the crystalline blade had grown under her care. With tonight's ritual she intended to add at least another two.

Rin had theorized that the blade would draw in its otherworldly power by moving along the same pathways utilized by souls when moving to and from the afterlife. Given that the Root of all things, Akasha, drew in and redistributed souls across dimensions, she thought it likely that the blade utilized those same preexisting pathways to channel prana from other realities. Standing in two of the three circular points along the array's major triangular pathway were her two closest friends and lovers. To the left was her apprentice in thaumaturgy, Shirou Emiya, a tall young man with thick red hair and striking gold eyes. They had known each other for years throughout high school but only ~really~ got to know each other during the Holy Grail War three years ago. Over the course of the conflict her schoolgirl crush had evolved from an admiration of his appearance to an honest appreciation for his straightforward personality and a profound respect for the way he stubbornly followed his childish dream of becoming a hero of justice. Although the disregard he held for his own happiness and safety was still a source of frustration for her from time to time. The boy just didn't possess a human's appreciation for his own life. The selflessness would be inspiring if it weren't so disturbing when he disregarded his own injuries so easily.

To her right, in all her regal glory and battledress, stood her familiar Arturia Pendragon. A heroic spirit who, after death, had ascended to the throne of heroes thanks to the absolute fame of her legend. Known in life as Arthur Pendragon, King of Britain, Arturia had been summoned to Shirou's side as a servant of the Saber class to fight during the Grail War. Over the course of the battles that week her magical connection to Shirou had been severed and, in order to defeat a dangerous enemy, she had agreed to reestablish her contract with Rin instead, utilizing the first rate mage's greater magical power to save Shirou's life. Since the war Arturia had finally been able to relax and put down the burden of Britain's safety. Now allowed to indulge in her own interests she had taken well to life among modern humans, even taking the next step in her relationship with Shirou and becoming his lover. Like Rin, Arturia had initially admired his selfless desire to save others, a wish that held much in common with the culture of knightly chivalry she had been raised in.

Given the close emotional ties and magical contracts that bound the three of them together, it was only a matter of time before the three of them began exploring their mutual feelings more thoroughly. Rin still smiled whenever she realized she had gained a small harem without intending to. Pushing her distracting libido to the side Rin finally stood up to observe her work.

"I think it's finally ready." She announced, "Lets double check the anchors before we start.

"Mine looks strong enough, it should hold through the ritual." Shirou had pulled his shirt collar down to expose his left shoulder, the green lines covering his skin had been surrounded with black script and diagrams. The portion of her family crest that he bore had been bound and thoroughly linked to the rest still sitting on her own arm.

"I believe mine is in working order but I would prefer if one of you would check again." Arturia removed her right gauntlet to reveal the blood red patterns arcing up the back of her hand and arm. The symbols vaguely resembled a greatsword and had been placed as backup layers and links to reinforce her connection to the circular command seal on Rin's right hand.

Rin strode over and took her hand, running power through her seal and testing its connection.

"It looks good Saber, the reinforced links between us should protect us from some kind of dimensional shift when we connect the blade to Akasha's flow. Our three souls are effectively bound together so it should be impossible for one of us to be swept away while the others remain safe."

"Good, then let us begin, the sooner we resolve this ritual the sooner I can stop worrying about it."

Rin nodded and moved to her empty place on the array, turning to face the alter she held up both hands and pointed them at the blade while Shirou and Arturia mirrored her movements. Prana flooded her magical circuitry and poured into the array below her. Red light filled the room and they began their chant.

 _Blade of light, edge of glass_

 _Standing upon the abyss, at the will of the worldstrider_

 _Rend the veil, open the gates_

 _Drink upon your right, at the side of your namesake_

 _Ride the wave, clear the path_

 _Guide your prismatic light to the Root and back!_

 _ **Shine through all worlds with the power of creation!**_

 _ **And step back through the veil power in hand!**_

The red light suffused the short crystalline blade, being drawn into some kind of void at its tip, the pull was strong but not unbearable to Rin's advanced prana network. Shirou on the other hand was struggling, his body had never been able to produce large amounts of magic, his measly 27 circuits were working overtime to meet the demand of the ritual. Just before the strain overtook him, the blade stopped taking in their mana. With a burst of multicolored light, the void began throwing waves of power out from its tip. The entire room flooded with the shifting magic as the energy grew out of control.

"Something's wrong! The power isn't bleeding off into the overflow arrays like it should be! Shirou! Shut off the ritual!" Rin screamed over the howling wind. The light had grown so bright she could hardly see her friends across the room.

"I CAN'T! I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT THE ARRAY'S NOT RESPONDING!" He yelled over the storm of power. "I'VE ALREADY TRIED CUTTING OFF THE PRANA BUT THE ARRAY'S FUELING ITSELF FROM THE BLADE!"

Arturia called through the wind. "WHAT DO WE DO? THE POWER NEEDS TO GO SOMEWHERE BEFORE THE MATRIX OVERLOADS, RIGHT?"

"DON'T WORRY, WE CAN DO THIS! WE JUST HAVE TO…. Oh shit." The blade, covered in cracks from all the pressure within it, finally shattered in an explosion of power. Before any of them could even cry out in pain the light consumed them completely. The dormitories of the mages association rocked with a massive explosion as a beam of prismatic light tore up through the basement and consumed everything above it. It rocketed into the sky before vanishing, leaving ash in its wake.

* * *

Shirou stirred as he tried to shake off his sleep, his limbs felt weak and restricted, like he had been pressed into a tightly confined space. Panic started to set in when he realized he wasn't breathing and opening his eyes brought no relief when all they saw was darkness.

 _Where the hell am I? Why can't I move?_

His struggling stopped when he heard some kind of noise from beyond his prison, it sounded like a woman's voice but was far too muffled to make out. It didn't sound like either English or Japanese, something that did not fill him with confidence.

 _Ok Shirou, calm down, the last thing I remember was the ritual ending in that burst of light, this can't be some kind of hospital treatment, I don't even see how I could have survived that blast…_

 _Wait… Did I die?_

Reaching out more carefully with his senses Shirou tried to feel the dimensions of his own body, given how small his limbs felt and how oversized his head was, things didn't look good.

 _I'm an infant?! Root dammit I'm in a womb! Is this what reincarnation is supposed to be like? How the hell am I self-aware already? I'm pretty sure unborn infants shouldn't be capable of rational thought. For that matter I know we're not supposed to remember anything from a previous life. Well… fuck._

 _I really hope Rin and Saber are ok, that seal did bind our souls together, hopefully that means they ended up in the same world as me. As soon as I'm able I'll need to try to find them._

 _… now what the hell am I supposed to do for the next few months?_

* * *

Rin had quickly come to a few conclusions. First, she had died. Second, she was in someone's womb. Third, she wasn't alone. In her initial struggling she had bumped into someone else nestled into the enclosed space with her.

 _Looks like I have a twin this time around, hopefully things will turn out better for them than they had for Sakura._

Considering the extensive amount of alone time she had ahead of her, Rin occupied her thoughts with evaluating what might have went wrong with the ritual and trying to figure out how she had retained her memories. To the first problem she had two simple conclusions, either the sword was never meant to operate along the pathways of reincarnation as she had hypothesized, or she had simply made an error somewhere in the calculations of the magical array. Either way she would probably never get the chance to correct her mistakes. Not only had the sword been destroyed, undoing generations of her family's work, but there was no way she would be able to reproduce the notes and blueprints she had used once she escaped the womb and regained enough motor control to write.

Filing that depressing thought away under "irrelevant disappointments" she was pretty sure her retained memories had something to do with the ritual, given that the blast had been caused by a connection to the reincarnation cycle, it was possible she tapped into the outward current, one heading away from the root out into the multiverse. Given that possibility, she had likely skipped visiting the Root itself and had jumped right into the reincarnation part. Since she had never actually arrived at Akasha her soul hadn't been cleansed of its experiences. Talk about a lucky break. She was now probably the smartest fetus in history and any advantage was welcome against the unknown.

 _Speaking of advantages, do I still have my mana? This is an entirely new body, I should have a completely different set of magical circuits now…_

 _W-WHAT THE HELL! My circuits are huge! I've always had an above average number of them but now I can't even count them all! I-it's like having just one huge circuit throughout my whole body! The mana flowing through it feels a little different but other than that it feels like my power is way more responsive than it used to be._

 _FUCK YES! LOOK OUT WORLD! THERE'S AN ARCHMAGE ON THE WAY!_

* * *

While Rin was cackling madly somewhere else Arturia had been calmly assessing her situation.

She was mostly worried for her friends. She was pretty sure they had been reincarnated nearby, while inspecting the overhaul her mana network had undergone, noting happily that her core was once again producing the absurd amounts of power she had enjoyed the last time she was alive, she had noticed an anomaly. One node near her right hand had been pulsing lightly with mana she quickly recognized as Rin's, It was similar enough to whenever Rin had channeled mana to her as a familiar that Arturia was certain Rin was not only nearby but was testing the limits of her power. Hopefully their mother's didn't plan on doing any traveling, It would be some time before she was old enough to seek out her lost friends on her own and things would be far easier if they were born in the same area.

Arturia was more concerned for Shirou, given that she wasn't bonded to him anymore she couldn't sense his presence like she could Rin's. Hopefully Rin would be able to do so once she found her.

Excited over the idea of actually getting a second chance at life and tired from stressing out over her friends, she drifted off to sleep under the lullaby of her mother's heartbeat.

* * *

Months passed by slowly for the three of them. Alone with nothing but their thoughts and their mana they had taken to exercising their networks out of boredom and curiosity. Shirou had improved little in his mana production but his improved network was very hard to overtax. Unlike his old fragile set of circuits that were quick to overheat and wear out, his new network would never wear out before his mana reserves ran dry. Mostly he just practiced his reinforcement ability. Channeling mana into his muscles and senses was far easier now, he could technically reinforce himself by just flooding his body with power but he found that the more rigid structure of an actual reinforcement spell brought greater efficiency. He wished he could take a shot at testing his projection but summoning a sword inside somebody's womb was just asking for trouble. Rin was still pretty happy about her increased magical ability and had also taken to practicing reinforcement simply out of a desire to use her magic for SOMETHING to pass the time, boredom being a powerful motivator. Arturia spent plenty of time examining her new network but found it impossible to actively reinforce her body with mana because her body was doing it all on its own. The absolutely vast amount of power she was generating was constantly bleeding over from her circuits into her flesh, naturally reinforcing her body to peak magical strength as a constant state of being. She was pretty sure even her mother was feeling the boost in power as some energy was bleeding off into her umbilical cord.

Rin was the first to feel it. The walls around her and her roommate began to contract, putting intense pressure on the two of them.

 _What the hell is she doing! Is she trying to crush us?_ The walls began to pulse rhythmically with pressure, slowly moving the two of them around. _Oooohh, hahaha it's finally TIME! Yes! Sweet freedom here I come!"_

The contractions pushed Rin into a tighter passage and she quickly reinforced her body to better handle the stress. After a brief period of intense pressure there was a sudden burst of light followed by a strong chill before she found a fluffy blanket wrapped around herself. A pair of arms held her to a soft chest while the blurry room around her moved in a flurry of activity. Before long she felt another bundle settle into her holder's other arm and a loud wailing filled the room.

 _Ah, looks like my twin made it out just fine, but dam these baby eyes I can't see anything clearly!_

She felt herself passed into another warm bosom alongside her twin, a gentle voice calling out to the two of them. The language was unfamiliar to her but when she felt a kiss land on her brow the voice confidently declared what could only have been a name.

"Hyuuga Rin, ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ Hyuuga Hinata."

 _My name is still Rin? What are the odds, maybe fate has more to do with naming children than we realize, whatever, I need to at least catch a glimpse of my new family. Ok let's try reinforcing my eyes…_

Pouring mana into the circuits around her eyes was surprisingly easy, she felt a specific set of circuits in and around her eyes readily respond to the power and the world around her snapped into a dark abyss populated with human shaped glowing wireframes.

 _Aaaahhh! What the fuck is this! I can see everywhere at once! Holy shit this is disorienting! Was I born with some kind of mystic eyes? What the hell am I seeing? Are these people's magical circuits? Ugh enough of that, I'm turning that shit off for now, way too much visual information at once._

Cutting off the power to her eyes quickly returned her vision to a more normal single angle of sight, things were still blurry but she could now make out the expression of absolute shock on her mother's face. The woman had long brown hair and a set of pale eyes that seemed to lack pupils, it was hard to tell for sure. "Mom" was calling attention to Rin's eyes while a tall man looming over her spoke in excited tones with her, maybe this was her father? He had the same pale eyes and she suspected they had noticed her use of power.

They had possessed extensive magical circuits of their own, that much had been clear to her strange eyesight, even possessing a dense concentration of circuitry around their own eyes. Maybe they had the same power? Mystic eye mutations could be hereditary after all. Mom began tending to Rin's wailing sister while Dad picked her up into his arms. She couldn't understand his words but the tone of pure pride and awe his voice held was unmistakable. She was certain she had been born into a mage family of some power, apparently activating a set of mystic eyes had already marked her as some kind of prodigy. Well, she had been down that road before, things were looking up at this point.

* * *

Shirou's birth went without complications, when he tried to reinforce his eyesight to look at his mother he nearly had a heart attack.

 _Illya? No, no it's not her, jeez that white hair threw me off for a minute. That's sorta weird, her eyes are normal so she's not an albino. Stress wouldn't turn her hair that snow white at this age, oh crap, I really hope I didn't inherit that, I really don't want to end up looking like HIM already._

A young man moved into his line of sight and began talking happily with Mom, the giant goofy grin on his face did little to distract Shirou from his long white hair done up in a ponytail.

 _Aaawww, dammit! I'm probably not a redhead anymore…_

In his brooding he almost missed when the man turned to him and grinned.

"Hatake Shirou."

The last thing he heard before drowsiness took him was his mother's giggling at the pun.

* * *

Arturia had had less luck with clearing up her vision. Pressed against her mother's sizeable breast she had been unable to get a clear look at the blond couple that were apparently her new parents. They sounded worried at first, probably due to her lack of crying, they seemed to relax when she nestled her head further into her mother's softness. Arturia couldn't remember her first mother, the woman had died during her birth and some part of her had worried that this new mom might share that fate. This comforting embrace and soft voice were sensations she had never realized she desired so strongly. Basking in a mother's love was one of the best feelings she had ever experienced and it was hard to bring her to turn her face from the loving breast pressed against her. Looking up into her parent's smiling faces, she caught her name,

"Sarutobi Arturia."

She had little time to ponder the strangeness of hearing her old English name combined with some kind of eastern sounding surname before her tummy rumbled fiercely. She blushed with embarrassment while her parents burst out laughing. Her father said something before walking away to speak with a doctor while her mother freed one huge breast and did something about her daughter's hunger.

* * *

Thirteen Years Later

"Goodbye Mother, I'll be back late tonight after my study session at Rin's place."

The young girl's mom called a cheerful goodbye as the door closed behind her. Locking the door and stepping out into the sunshine, she strode purposefully toward their usual meeting place. The sunlight shone off her golden blond hair, held back in a regal bun, and the light breeze sent her long blue skirt fluttering in the wind. Once again Arturia was struck by the simple satisfaction her new life had given her. Her parents loved her, she had plenty of friends, and most of all she had had the chance to grow up as a girl rather than a knight in training. The fact that she was now a ninja in training did little to sour the mood. After all, protecting her people was something she had always found satisfaction in, she had so much power, why not use it? That had been the general consensus among her two best friends when they had reunited about ten years prior. Shirou's childish desire to save everyone hadn't changed at all from becoming a child all over again and Rin had jumped at the chance to become a ninja, seeing it as a chance to further improve her magecraft, or ninjutsu, and generally enjoy developing the significant power she had been borne with. Also the studying helped her to train her sister Hinata ever since their father had given up on the sweet girl, much to Rin's consternation. Arturia had heard plenty of exasperated rants about the similarities between the Hyuuga clan and a typical power obsessed mage family from their old world. The whole clan stunk of a general sense of superiority and disregard for anything resembling compassion for family members. The branch family system was proof enough of that.

Shaking her head to clear the unpleasant musings before they further dampened her mood, she rounded the next corner to find her three best friends waiting for her.

"Morning Saber." "Hey, Saber-chan." "H-hi, Arturia."

Arturia sighed slightly at Hinata's greeting, the girl had improved from the nearly mute child she had met all those years ago but was still too timid to address her by her nickname.

 _It's like some part of her is still afraid of me or something, can't imagine why…_

Rin's appearance had changed little between lives with the obvious exception of her blank white eyes and a larger than average bustline. Hinata and Rin were about the same size and their classmates were certain there was something special in the water over at the Hyuuga compound. She still wore a red jacket over a turtleneck, white today, combined with a rather short black skirt and stockings. Shirou on the other hand had changed plenty, When Arturia first met him all those years ago she had been shocked to see his white hair, the resemblance to Archer not going unnoticed by either of them, he had tried growing it out longer to establish some kind of distinction between him and Archer's own hairstyle but his hair not only grew in thick, but in all directions too.

After growing it out for a few months Arturia had noticed the resemblance to a lion's mane and had immediately forbade him from cutting his hair any shorter than that, it was too downright cute for her to give up! Since then Shirou had been given the moniker "White Lion" by his classmates, and had taken to the hairstyle particularly for the large difference between it and Archer's slicked back hair, he still preferred white shirts with blue sleeves, vowing to himself to never wear red when he could help it.

"Good morning to you all, let's be off." She nodded in the direction of the academy and the group stepped into place beside her.

"So Saber, how'd the Bunshin practice go last night? I tried to sneak some training of my own in before bed but work kept me busy most of the night." Shirou looked over at her, concern in his eyes.

She drooped a bit at the question "It went about as well as it did last time, the least I could get it down to was seven clones, even then I discharged some excess power into a small wind blast by accident. I'm worried about the upcoming exam, if I can't get such a simple technique down I'm going to be in trouble."

"Honestly Saber-chan, whoever heard of someone having _too much_ chakra to use a technique? I swear sometimes that raw power of yours can be frightening." Rin shook her head in frustration. "We're going to have to find a way for you to draw on your chakra in smaller amounts sooner or later.

That had been a problem Arturia had been unable to overcome so far, while her seemingly limitless chakra reserves had allowed her to easily learn and utilize high level destructive jutsu, widespread fire and wind techniques being her favorite, she had difficulty performing more delicate jutsu, her enormous power often pouring too much into the technique and causing it to go awry in some way. She was confident that her swordsmanship was enough to grant her a passing grade in taijutsu and her insane chakra levels gave her enough genjutsu resistance to pass that class, but being unable to cast a simple Bunshin right would be sure to hurt her ninjutsu grade, even if she could level a building in a storm of golden fire…

"D-don't worry A-arturia, I'm sure you'll pass anyway." Hinata's small smile was reassuring in its own way. Rin jumped in, supporting her sister as usual. "She's right Saber-chan, even if you can't do the little things, with your kind of raw power there's no way they would hold you back, the Jonin gotta be chomping at the bit for the chance to train you."

Rin's smirk was a non-too subtle reminder of the requests Arturia had been getting in the mail ever since her ninja stats had gotten into the hands of the instructor Jonin last week. There had apparently been a lot of competition over who got to train the new prodigy. Thankfully Rin's father Hiashi had put a stop to that by pulling some strings on her teacher assignment. None of them knew who their teacher would be but the three of them had been assured by the Hyuuga patriarch that they would be together on a team.

"Honestly the whole thing probably worked out in our favor, between the valedictorian herself and the "chakra monster" we're sure to get a good teacher, your father would have only wanted the best after all. I lucked out at least by getting assigned to your group." Shirou mused as they walked through the front gates to the academy's outer walls.

"Come on Shirou, don't sell yourself short, there's plenty of students here that are way worse off than you, take her for instance." Rin nodded her head over to where they could see a certain pinkette watching the Uchiha kid from around a corner. "Sakura over there is sure to pass on her good grades alone, but as far as practical application goes… her jutsu of all three varieties is pathetic. Never seen her throw a good punch except at the Uzumaki clown, never seen a passable combat ninjutsu, she's supposed to be good at genjutsu but only in theory. Honestly I doubt she's going to last long in this business unless she gets assigned some really competent teammates."

"Rin, It's rude to dismiss others like that, I'm sure she could do well if she put her mind to it, at any rate a real mission or two should snap her out of her naiveté. At least I hope." Arturia cringed when she heard Sakura and Ino start screeching at each other while poor Sauske tried to ignore them.

"Fat chance Saber-chan, we both know there's only one thing that girl has ever put her mind to, and at this rate I'm going to find the Root before she figures out why she hasn't gotten anywhere with him."

"That's enough of that Rin, Iruka-sensei's going to be mad enough about what Uzumaki did this morning without you talking during lecture." They had arrived at their class and joined the students filing into the room.

"Oh great, what did he do this time?"

"You'll find out pretty quickly, see you both at lunch." Shirou leaned over and kissed her and then Arturia lightly on the cheek before moving to his seat across the room from them. The wave of killing intent from the boys, and a few girls, washed off his back with little trouble while Hinata and Arturia blushed crimson. Hinata nearly fainted before Rin could guide her sheltered twin to a seat.

Poor Shirou was gaining something of a reputation as a playboy through no real effort of his own, even some of his female instructors had been worrying about the possible second coming of the Ero-sennin of Konoha. It wasn't his fault really, he, Saber and Rin had gone plenty of years without feeling each other's touch, given that they were once again children none of them had felt comfortable renewing their more physical relationship so soon but ever since they had turned ten the girls had agreed that they were now old enough for kissing at least and for the past three years Shirou had indulged them frequently. He couldn't help but enjoy doing so but when his classmates started calling him Ero-Raion he realized he shouldn't have been so obvious in dating the class's 'chakra monster' and a 'Hyuuga princess' at the same time.

The glares boring into his back abated when he took his seat near the far back of the room, when looking over their shoulders to glare at him had become more trouble than it was worth. After a minute or two Sauske came through the door, followed by the majority of the class's female population, and the neglected boys found someone else to focus their jealousy on.

Once the class had settled in the chatter had died down somewhat but without Iruka-sensei present the room was quickly filled with muttering students. After about fifteen minutes the door burst open and Iruka strode through with a struggling Naruto tied up and held under one arm. He walked up to the podium and tossed Naruto onto the floor in front of him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Naruto!" Iruka's head seemed to grow comically large with a strange version of killing intent as he tore into Uzumaki. "The exam is this week and you're wasting time with stupid pranks! You've already failed this test twice, do you want to be held back again?"

Naruto scoffed and turned his head away, the casual dismissal was the last straw for Iruka.

"THAT'S IT! POP QUIZ! EVERYONE LINE UP AND PERFORM THE HENGE NO JUTSU TO TRANSFORM INTO ME!"

With no small amount of grumbling the students lined up and began transforming one after another.

"Hatake, your turn."

"Right."

With a burst of power Shirou vanished into a puff of smoke, when it cleared another Iruka was standing in his place.

"Pretty good Shirou but you got the color of my shoes wrong, it shouldn't be such a dark blue. Hyuuga Rin, go."

After Shirou changed back and moved to his desk Rin stepped forward and performed a flawless Henge.

"Good work Rin, perfect control as usual."

While Rin moved back to her seat she silently basked in the jealousy of the other girls, particularly from her self-proclaimed 'rivals' Sakura and Ino. They seethed with hate when they noticed how Sauske's eyes followed Rin's movement. She just met their glares with a polite smile to throw them off, judging by the way Ino botched her Henge with a failed hair color change, it had worked.

"Sarutobi Arturia."

Most of the class flinched as she stepped forward, everyone at their seats except for Rin and Shirou ducked down behind their desks while those still in line shuffled around trying not to be the guy out front.

She stepped forward, trying to ignore the caution everyone else had taken, and turned all her focus into her chakra reserves. As she brought her hands together into the correct seal she opened the tiniest flow of chakra she could and the power quickly flowed forth.

"HENGE!"

With a flash of golden light and a burst of smoke that filled the entire room, her power exploded forth, a gust of wind originating from her blew the smoke to the edges of the room and revealed her progress. Standing there was an Iruka copy with a golden aura of fire burning around him while light poured from his eyes.

Twitching with restraint while his reflexes were screaming at him to run, Iruka tried to regain control of the situation.

"W-well, at least the hair isn't gold this time. Keep trying Arturia, you'll manage to rein it in eventually."

Super-Iruka's shoulders slumped, his echoing voice showing clear frustration.

" **Hai Iruka-sensei"**

With another flash of light Arturia reappeared and shuffled back to her seat, her blushing face looking down in shame.

Luckily for her, her embarrassing failure was about to be overshadowed by the antics of one orange-clad clown.

"Henge!"

Arturia raised her head from her fidgeting hands to look down at the most recent transformation, her face heating up with indignation at what she saw.

Standing in the middle of the room was a young busty blond girl in pigtails, barely preserving her modesty with the cloud of smoke generated by the jutsu. The entire class, Iruka included, exploded into one of two reactions. The men rocketed back with nosebleeds and the girls roared in anger. By the time Naruto changed back and announced his newly patented Sexy justu the class had devolved into chaos while Rin's laughter rang out in the background and Shirou kept his eyes solidly fixed on a tree outside rather than catch a glimpse of the embarrassing "technique."

After some more yelling by Iruka, Rin was still curious how their teacher managed to make his head appear so large when he was angry, lunch period finally rolled around. Shirou picked up his backpack and walked over to pick up his girls before leading them to their favorite lunch spot. While they were walking to the tree in the courtyard Rin noticed Naruto sitting on a bench near the fence, looking at his small lunchbag with a disappointed expression. She gave her sister a small elbow and nodded in Naruto's direction.

"Hey Hinata, why don't you invite Naruto to eat with us? That lunch of his looks pretty pitiful and you know Shirou always brings extra food." Rin wasn't sure why her sister was so enamored with the boy but she was eager for any opportunity to drag Hinata out of her shell to face the world.

"W…what? I… I couldn't do that! I d…don't want to bother him…" she began fiddling with her fingers as she refused to meet Rin's eyes.

"Bother him? He hardly looks happy eating lunch over there by himself. Come on, you know the four of us are probably the only classmates he has who would actually _want_ to hang out with him. If anything he should be grateful that a cute girl like yourself would want to spend time with him."

"C…cute? Y…you really think so?"

"Duh? Of course you're cute! Easily one of the prettiest girls in our school, honestly Hinata you need to stop underestimating yourself. Now go over there and Get Your Man!" Rin's eyes were burning with enthusiasm as she pumped her fist. She hoped the overzealous declaration would inspire some kind of confidence in her shy twin.

Hinata gulped heavily, trying to suppress her nervousness, Shirou and Arturia had moved on without them, letting the sisters have their moment while they set up the picnic Shirou had brought.

Steeling her nerves Hinata turned and marched over to where Naruto was sitting. Noticing her shadow moving over him, Naruto looked up in confusion before smiling at her.

"Hey Hinata-chan! Did you want something?"

Her face began to heat up at his smile but she took a deep breath before she could faint and blurted out what she could. "Wouldyouliketohavelunchwithustoday?"

He blinked slowly and tilted his head to the side. "What?"

She carefully slowed her hyperventilating. "W…would you like to have lunch with us today? Shirou-san made a lot of food a…and we have enough for one more." She was improving, she had actually managed to make that invitation while looking directly at him.

He brightened up at that. "Really! Thanks Hinata-chan! Man I'd have to be an idiot to turn down a chance at some of Shirou's cooking! Plus it'd be nice to eat with someone for once."

He stood up and threw his bag full of cheap sandwiches into the trash, he had just run out of instant ramen so being offered something made by Shirou had definitely improved his day. She turned away, smiling to herself at her small victory, and nearly skipped back to her friends, only Naruto's presence kept her from doing something so carefree. As they approached the trio sitting under the tree Shirou looked up from where he was handing out bento boxes from the picnic basket in front of him.

"Hey Naruto, glad you could make it." he handed one of the packed lunches to each of them before sitting back and opening his own.

"Ha ha, I'm just glad you're offering. I didn't see you at Ichiraku's this morning, I was worried you were getting tired of your biggest fan!" His stupid grin was infectious, even in light of his recent henge prank Arturia couldn't help but smile while she stacked her three bento next to her.

"You know I don't work the morning shift. Besides, I'm surprised you had time to look for breakfast this morning, considering how long your latest 'project' must have taken."

"What was that about anyway? How'd you piss of Iruka-sensei this time?" Rin asked between mouthfuls of rice and chicken.

"Just the MOST AWSOME PRANK EVER!" he posed dramatically as he pointed north with his chopsticks. There, over the city skyline, sat the hokage monument in all its glory, covered in graffiti…

"What the hell!" Rin's jaw had dropped as her princess façade finally slipped, Arturia had glanced up and was now studiously focusing on her lunch to avoid punching Naruto. Hinata looked at Naruto with awe while Shirou just shrugged and went back to his food.

"So why deface the monument?" he asked politely. Shirou had seen it on his way to the meeting place this morning and had had a hunch to who had done it.

"Isn't it obvious? Because someday I'm going to be Hokage, someone stronger than any of them! So of course I have to tell the world how great I am!" he finished with a confident nod.

Rin had had plenty of practice dealing with childish dreams thanks to Shirou and had already replaced her failing façade with a new smile. "That's a good dream to have Naruto, but most who hold it would never dream of spitting on their predecessors like that. Instead of mocking the Hokage shouldn't you have been spending that time practicing for the exam?" Naruto shivered for some reason when she looked at him, he felt like he had pissed someone off but that didn't make any sense, nobody sitting here looked mad…

"Don't worry Naruto, even if others say it's an impossible dream isn't that an even better reason to pursue it? Just give it your all, even if you fail you can proudly say you did your best." Shirou had a far-off look in his eyes, like he was remembering something significant.

"D…don't worry N…Naruto-kun, I'm sure you can pass the exam this time." Hinata's nervous encouragement did more for his motivation than she realized. He paused mid slurp to look at her then quickly polished off the rest of his ramen before giving her one of those smiles that made her pulse quicken.

"Thanks guys! I'm glad I have friends like you, nobody else ever takes my dreams seriously except for maybe the old man himself but even then I think he's just humoring me sometimes."

Saber, having just finished her third bento, sat up to address Naruto. "Of course we take your dream seriously; aspirations of heroism should never be taken lightly. Even if you're only doing it for the recognition the position would provide, the fact is that the Hokage is the greatest defender of the village, desiring to become such a noble person is never something that should be laughed at."

Rin smiled at her friend's acknowledgment; even she had to admit it was a worthy goal, even more so for a failure like Naruto. "Well well Hokage-sama, looks like you've already got a few supporters. You'd better get to work so you don't let us down." Her encouragement sounded taunting but everyone present knew Rin had her own way of motivating people.

"Thanks guys, as soon as I'm done cleaning up the monument tonight I'll get back to practicing! I'm definitely going to pass this time! Believe It!" As he sprang to his feet, fists held up in determination, his outburst was cut short by the warning bell.

Shirou began quickly packing up the picnic gear. "Well looks like we're going to have to pick this up some other time, you guys go on ahead, I'll clean up here and catch up to you."

Saber rose first, knowing Shirou wouldn't accept help if it meant they might get in trouble for being late. "Very well Shirou, don't take too long."

"Yosh! Thanks for the meal man, it was awesome!" Naruto waved over his shoulder before running off toward the classroom with the girls right on his heels.

Shirou, smiled at their retreating backs before starting to clean up, happy that he could help improve the pariah's day somewhat.

* * *

The rest of the week had passed similarly, with the looming Gennin exam on Friday the students had all thrown themselves into their practice. Rin, Arturia, Hinata and Shirou continued to train every night at the Hyuuga compound, utilizing the privacy of a large underground cavern Rin had excavated years ago using earth jutsu, while spending most of their lunch periods with Naruto to exchange advice and motivation in equal measure. When the day finally arrived things went fairly smoothly. The actual test itself was more like a final grade for their Ninjutsu class, their Genjutsu and Taijutsu classes had already issued their final exams and grades consecutively in the two weeks prior. It was difficult, usually requiring exceptional grades in the other two courses, but it was possible to fail the final test and still graduate, meaning the term 'Gennin exam' was something of a misnomer. This was highly fortunate for Arturia, who was now standing in line for her turn at the exam, nervously shifting her balance as she thought about her minimal progress over the last week.

"Sarutobi Arturia?" Mizuki-sensei had stuck his head out the classroom door and waved her in with a friendly smile. Closing the door behind her he moved to the table beside Iruka and the other three instructors that formed the panel of judges. She took her position in front of the group and bowed.

"Sarutobi Arturia, present and eager to start." When she rose out of the bow her nervous expression had been replaced with her distinctive regal disciplinarian bearing, some of the instructors fidgeted uncomfortably under her gaze.

Iruka, hardly missing a beat, met her eyes easily. "Alright Arturia, let's get to it then. Please create exactly three clones using the Bunshin technique."

She nodded and formed the ram seal, carefully turning her attention inward to her chakra network. She could feel the roaring inferno cycling through her body, its excess power and heat radiating out into her muscles and bones, the extra power constantly pushing her to superhuman levels of strength. When she tried to gather some of the chakra to the seal her hands were making her entire network lurch in response, eagerly trying to respond with all her available power. Clamping down furiously on all the power besides what was naturally sitting in her hands, she tried to narrow her focus and work with just that smaller percentage. The chakra in her hands flowed in rhythm with the ram sign and burst forward at her voice.

"Bunshin!"

A large burst of smoke quickly concealed Arturia from the instructors, when it cleared, five additional girls were standing before them. All of them looking frustrated with the results.

Iruka sighed before giving her a resigned smile. "Still having trouble holding back, huh Arturia?"

She hung her head in shame, "Yes sensei, five clones is the absolute fewest number I've been able to create without some kind of visible side effect. I made three once before while practicing but without forming it into additional clones the excess chakra I drew on manifested as a cyclone of wind large enough to dispel the three I had actually made."

"That's what I was afraid of, I'm going to have to give you a failing grade Arturia. This was a test of chakra control, not just jutsu comprehension. You clearly understand the Bunshin and are able to perform it but being unable to hold back like that is going to be a handicap you're going to have to work hard to overcome as a ninja. Now step forward and receive your headband."

"Sir?" she tentatively stepped forward, unsure what he meant.

Iruka's voice swelled with pride as he addressed her. "Sarutobi Arturia, despite failing this test you have already proven yourself to exceed the base requirements of a Gennin, your bladework is superb, a clear sign of a prodigal weapon master in the making and your enormous chakra reserves grant you both an affinity for high level jutsu and a high resistance to genjutsu of all kinds. After taking this into account we've decided that you have earned the right to graduate. The issue of your chakra control will just have to be something for your Jonin instructor to worry about."

"Congratulations Sarutobi." Mizuki reached out to hand her one of the leaf headbands sitting on the table.

With a relived smile she took it and tied it around her neck, positioning it to protect her throat and collarbone. Finishing with another deep bow she spoke with clear determination.

"Thank you sensei, all of you. I won't let you down, I'll work hard and become a shinobi you can be proud of."

"You already have Arturia, now could you please head out through the back door to the courtyard. Your parents are probably waiting outside to congratulate you." Mizuki grinned at her as he stood up to go call in the next student.

"Thank you sensei and goodbye." She turned on her heel and confidently marched back out the door. After another hallway she was back outside, surrounded by other students who were happily being congratulated by their families. Over near the entrance to the yard she saw her mother happily waving to her while her father stood back, like he was trying _really hard_ not to run over there and embarrass his sunflower with a flying hug. Feeling like a special occasion merited an exception, she broke into a sprint and gave them one of her own, knocking the both of them clean off their feet with a tackle they could barely see coming from across the field. With both her and her mom laughing as dad tried to recover the breath they had knocked from him they set out for home, not noticing one orange kid sitting by himself under the tree.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, looks like I forgot to do that disclaimer thing last time so here it goes.

I do not own Naruto, Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks, or any of the characters depicted in either media. I make no profit off this fanfiction story.

Ok then, sorry about how long this update took everyone, I've been busy these last few weeks adjusting to my new second part time job. Working at two places at once has left me with little time for writing but things have settled down enough that I should be able to get back into this no problem.

As always leave a comment if you have any constructive criticism or any questions that you need answered. I'll place the Q&A from last time at the end of the chapter as usual.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Shirou was in a pretty dam good mood, working at Ichiraku's tended to do that to him, but he was particularly satisfied tonight. His exam had gone well and, with the headband in his back pocket as proof, he was finally ready to put himself to work defending his new home.

"Order up!"

Speaking of work, he slid the finished bowl of beef ramen through the window from the kitchen to where Ayame, the manager's daughter, swept it up with a smile and brought it over to her customer. Shirou had been working at Ichiraku Ramen for a little over a year now and the reputation of the restaurant had grown noticeably once they began incorporating his recipes. Teuchi, the owner, was a talented chef but even his personal recipes had improved greatly with Shirou's input.

Just as he went to grab the next order from Ayame the banner between the counter and the street burst open as Iruka rushed to the register.

"Has anyone seen Naruto?" Shirou's eyes were drawn first to Iruka's frantic expression and his heaving chest, something had gone _very_ wrong to make Iruka-sensei panic like that. This was more than some kind of prank Naruto had gotten himself into.

"What's going on Iruka-sensei? Is Naruto in trouble?" Shirou had moved from the kitchen while he toweled off his hands.

Iruka's face had taken on a grim expression. "He sure is, do you have any idea where he's gone Shirou? It's urgent we find him before it's too late."

"Sure, hold on a moment." Shirou closed his eyes and began sniffing at the air around him, attempting to filter out the thousands of chakra signatures in the village. With one last push of will he identified a familiar scent. He had always thought Naruto's chakra smelled weird but the distinctive scent of a fresh windswept field, undercut with a disturbing foulness comparable to burning bodies, was easy enough to lock onto thanks to its strength.

"I can feel him on the east side of the city, near training ground 24, his chakra scent is weaker than normal, like he's burned most of it out working on something. If you want I can lead you there? If he moves I'll still be able to zero in on him."

Iruka was surprised at Shirou's ability, the academy tests had of course included courses on chakra detection, tests Shirou had passed, but to be able to identify a ninja from all the way across the village? Right through the interference provided by thousands of other ninja? That was the hallmark of a skilled sensor type ninja.

"Lead the way."

* * *

The two of them burst into the clearing, landing right in front of the orange thief. Naruto looked up from where he sat against a tree, grinning through the dirt on him when he saw his sensei looming above.

"Hehe, hi Iruka-sensei. Man I thought I had more time, I only managed to learn one jutsu before you got here." His head tilted to the side in confusion. "Shirou? Are you taking the test too? I thought you passed already."

"What test?" Iruka ground out, his patience wearing thin.

"The one Mizuki-sensei told me about. He said if I could steal this scroll and learn a technique from it I could be a genin."

Iruka's blood chilled at the implications. Before he could respond Shirou's voice cut through the air.

"Mizuki-sensei! I know you're out there! I can smell your chakra!"

High above them a flicker of movement revealed Mizuki standing on a high branch, his chunin vest loaded down with two oversized shurikin on his back and plenty of extra kunai at his belt.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll!"

Iruka spun around and drew two kunai "Don't give it to him Naruto even if you die! It's full of forbidden jutsu! He used you to get his hands on it!"

"W-what the hell? Whats going on here?" Naruto's eyes were darting between the two teachers in confusion.

Mizuki laughed, his face covered in a cruel sneer. "Why listen to him? It's not like this village has done you any favors Naruto. Haven't you always wondered? Why everyone looks at you with those hateful eyes? Why none of your teachers ever put effort into helping you? Why the villagers used to hunt you down and beat you for no reason? You've done something horrible, something everyone hates you for, something we've been forbidden from ever explaining to you."

"Mizuki! Don't!" Iruka and Shirou had taken defensive stances between Naruto and his tormentor.

"Don't tell me what? **What did I do to them!** " Naruto's fists were shaking as years of pain burned inside him.

"You know the story of the demon fox. How the fourth killed the beast at the cost of his life? That's just a lie we tell the kids so they can sleep at night! He couldn't kill it! Nothing could! So he sealed it away, locking up its power at the cost of his life! They hate you because **you are the demon fox Naruto Uzumaki!** You killed their Hokage! You slaughtered their families! You murdered Iruka's parents! That's why they hate you, that's why Iruka hates you! Now give me the scroll!"

In one smooth motion Mizuki swept one of the shurikin off his back and hurled it at Naruto. The weapon spinning through the air like a buzzsaw. Iruka threw himself over Naruto, fully expecting to take the hit for his student. A loud clang sounded out behind him and the shurikin plowed into the ground next to them. Iruka looked over his shoulder to find Shirou's back facing them, his hands were holding two curved blades Iruka hadn't seen the boy carrying earlier. A gleaming white sword in his right hand and a nearly invisible black one in his left.

"Are you two ok?" He never took his eyes off Mizuki, who looked surprised that his attack had been deflected so easily.

"W…why?" Shirou glanced into the reflection in Bakuya, Naruto was shaking under Iruka, his voice small and vulnerable. "Why would you help, no-one's ever helped before…"

Shirou looked over his shoulder and gave the most reassuring smile he could. "Because you're my friend, besides, you don't look much like a fox to me." Naruto's voice lodged in his chest, Iruka's soft voice caught his attention, tears running down his face.

"I'm sorry Naruto, It must have been hard for you. Maybe if I had been stronger, If I was a better person, maybe you wouldn't have been in so much pain."

"Take care of him sensei, I've got this one."

"What? Shirou NO!" Iruka rolled off Naruto just fast enough to see the genin blur in a burst of speed. Shirou appeared on the branch next to Mizuki, who had just enough time to block the gleaming blade with a kunai. Mizuki kicked off the tree, trying to fall back, only to catch a flash of movement in the darkness before the black blade buried itself in his thigh. Screaming in pain he failed his landing and plummeted from the canopy before just barely managing to right himself and land in a crouch in front of Iruka. Before he could stand the black blade Kanshou ripped itself free and flew through the air into Shriou's waiting hand.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Mizuki screamed in agony and fell to his knees, clutching his thigh, trying to stop the bleeding.

"H…how? You're just a genin. There's no way a brat like you should be that fast!" He glared up at Shirou, agony flashing through his eyes.

"Then I guess you're in trouble because there's another 'brat' right behind you." Shirou casually flicked the blood from Kanshou and pointed at Naruto.

" **GGggggrrraaaaahhh! Fuck You! Kage Bunshin!"** MIzuki looked on in horror as an enormous cloud of smoke covered the entire forest around him.

"Take this you lying bastard!" Shirou almost dropped his swords in surprise when 300 Naruto's came stampeding out of the smoke to gang up on Mizuki in the most one sided mosh pit beatdown the village had ever seen. He shook his head and jumped back down to Iruka's side.

"So I think Naruto's got this one… we should probably call ANBU to come pick up Mizuki… you ok Iruka-sensei?" Iruka nodded slowly.

"Yah, I guess he has things under control. Um, here." He pulled out a small flaregun and shot it into the sky as the roaring of the orange horde began to die down. "Nobody's gonna believe this one are they?"

Shirou shrugged, dismissing his blades in a flash of light. "Probably not."

* * *

The next night Rin found herself making her way to a small park located near the Academy. Shirou had given her a phone call and asked to meet her quickly, something about him having answers about what the hell happened last night. The sudden mobilization of the police force and the ANBU had the entire village gossiping about what it could have been. Rin had heard everything from a sudden ninja attack, to a kidnapped Hokage's grandson, to an escaped cat of all things. If Shirou had somehow stumbled on to the truth it would ease her curiosity at least. That idiot had a knack for finding trouble after all, damn his E rank luck.

When she arrived at the usual location, a stone bench under a oak tree in the most secluded corner of the park, she quickly noticed Shirou and Saber had already arrived.

"Couldn't wait to get started huh?" Rin smirked at the way Saber was nestled into Shirou's side on the bench while he just took the jab in stride and handed her a cup of tea.

"Glad you could make it Rin, I had one hell of a night yesterday and I heard some things I felt you two should know." He gestured to the bench seat opposite Saber at his right and she sat down blowing lightly at her drink.

Before they could comment he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper covered with a complex sealing diagram. He pulsed chakra through it and with a soft glow of blue light the sounds from the city around them vanished.

"There we go, nobody should be able to hear us now." He placed the paper back in his pocket.

"What's going on Shirou?" Saber frowned at him, "You went and stuck your nose into someone else's problems again didn't you."

He at least had the self awareness to look sheepish at the implication. "Not quite Saber, I actually got invited into this mess."

"Oh? That's a new one, go on Shirou, do tell how trouble sent you an invitation this time." Rin just wasn't pulling any punches tonight. He figured he might as well just say it.

"Misuki-sensei has betrayed the Leaf" he took their shocked silence as permission to continue.

"Last night at work Iruka came barging in to the restaurant looking for Naruto, apparently he had stolen a scroll containing forbidden jutsu and the whole village was up in arms about it. When he asked me if I had seen him I offered to track Naruto down by his chakra trail for him. When we found Naruto he was dirty and exhausted as if he had been training hard. He had failed the genin exam but when Mizuki told him of a special hidden make-up exam he could take Naruto jumped at the chance."

"Mizuki told him to steal the scroll and learn a jutsu from it, he intended to steal it from Naruto and flee the village, probably to increase his own power before selling it to a rival village in exchange for shelter and status. When he came to collect his prize Naruto and I gave Iruka-sensei quite a surprise by defeating Mizuki without too much trouble. By midnight Mizuki was placed in the tender care of the interrogation department and Naruto had been given a battlefield promotion to genin by Iruka-sensei. The big thing that concerns me though, was the secret Mizuki let slip during the fight."

"What the hell did he say that could have made you worry?" Rin was a bit shaken at the news, she liked Mizuki as a teacher, most of their class did. "You two remember the story of the nine tail fox right? The fourth Hokage gave his life to defeat it in battle? The village elders have been hiding something about that incident for years."

Arturia's kingly mind was spinning as she quickly considered what a village leader might need to conceal from the population, none of her assumptions were comforting.

Noticing her tension Shirou put one arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

"The truth is that the Hokage couldn't defeat the Fox, instead he sacrificed his life to seal the demon away inside an infant. Naruto is the Demon's prison."

" _How_ the fuck is that possible? I can't even begin to imagine the complexity of a seal that could contain a _mountain sized living chakra construct_ inside an infant boy! And to do it without the demon's nature influencing Naruto's mind? Whoever designed the seal he used must have been a goddam genius. This makes a command seal look like child's play…"

"It finally makes sense, only the adults knew didn't they Shirou? No wonder everyone before our generation treats him like some kind of pariah, the idiots mistake the demon container for the demon itself. Laying all their hate at the feet of the Fox's unknowing warden rather than with the Fox itself." Saber was pissed, Naruto was a good kid and nobody deserved the abuse she had occasionally seen heaped upon him. "How is he taking the news?"

"He's handling it better than you would think, I'm sure he's worried about it but between taking some stress out on Mizuki and getting promoted to genin I think he's been put in a good enough mood to just be satisfied with finally knowing the reason people hate him."

Rin finished her tea and tossed the cup into the trash. "As much as I would like to study an Uzumaki seal of that caliber he's going through enough bullshit as it is, we should find the time to do something nice for him. Let's call it a night, we can catch up with Naruto on Monday."

The trio shared a hug and went their separate ways.

* * *

Morning at the Hokage tower was usually a busy affair, mission requests would arrive and recon reports would often leave poor Sarutobi Hiruzen buried under his most hated foe, paperwork. Today, on the other hand, was a good day. He had just settled down into his chair at the head of a long conference table filled by potential Jonin instructors and had left the hell of the mission office in the care of some poor Chunin suckers. This was sort of a test run, he had been training those secretaries to handle the mission office for a year now. If they could make it through today without him he could happily dump the vast majority of the paperwork into their helpful laps.

He loudly cleared his throat, smiling to himself as the conversations died down.

"Let's call this meeting to order. On the agenda today, the assignment of the genin teams. Kurenai? You had a question?" She lowered her hand before responding.

"Didn't we assign teams last week? I thought we had this all sorted out already."

Hiruzen took a moment to take a drag off his pipe, exhaling slowly. "Yes, yes we did but of course it couldn't be that simple. Clan politics have forced our hand once again and now we must sort through the fallout."

Noting her confused expression he decided to elaborate. "Lord Hyuuga Hiashi has thrown his weight around once again and decided who his daughter Rin will be working with. Due to favors owed to him I've decided to just go along with it, so now we have to restructure the team roster to accommodate him."

Asuma sighed heavily. "So who did he put on her team?"

"He asked that Hatake Shirou and Sarutobi Arturia be placed on her team. Mostly because, somehow, the two kids have already earned some measure of respect from him and because the three of them are already good friends and work well together. On the bright side they do have potential as a team. Iruka, if you would elaborate?"

Iruka shuffled through the folders in front of him. "We believe they would do well as a search and destroy team, or some other variant of a tracker team. This is due partially to Rin's Byakugan but it was only discovered recently that Shirou's chakra detection skills show potential as a high level sensor ninja. He's capable of detecting chakra from miles away and can effectively lock onto the signature and follow it through plenty of interference. Taking the two of them into account and Arturia's high combat potential they would do well together."

"Well who's going to be taking them?" Kakashi asked as he walked into the room.

Asuma groaned. "So why were you late this time Kakashi?"

The scarecrow settled into his seat before responding. "Well I was on my way over here when an old lady threw her old bathwater out her window and soaked the clothes of a young woman. Of course I had to help preserve her modesty by lending her my vest and walking her home, then I had to go home and get a new dry vest for myself. I couldn't show up under dressed after all."

The Hokage just shrugged, having long accepted the Copy Ninja's quirks. "Not you Kakashi, as the only experienced Sharingan user left in Konoha you of course are taking Uchiha Sasuke in your team and, keeping with tradition, the dead last, Uzumaki Naruto, will be on the same team as the rookie of the year, Sasuke. The third member of that team set is supposed to be the top kunoichi, Hyuuga Rin, but we'll just have to assign the runner up Haruno Sakura as your third student. The trio will serve as a general combat team"

"Of course Asuma will lead this generation's InoShikaCho trio since clan tradition demands that a Sarutobi lead the renowned combination and Kurenai's team of Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba will be another tracker team."

"Team 5 will be led by Mitarashi Anko."

 **!BOOM!**

A victory banner exploded from the ceiling light above Anko's chair in a shower of confetti.

"Hahaha! Yes! First time teaching students and I get the band of prodigies! Suck it Kakashi! While you're dealing with the angsty brat, the fangirl and the dead last I'm gonna be snacking on dango while my band of badasses handle everything!"

Hiruzen rubbed his forehead and sighed heavily. "Anko, I trust you're going to take this seriously? I don't want to have to revoke your teaching license after your first try."

She flashed him a grin as the colorful streamers finished falling to the floor.

"Sure thing old man, I'll put 'em through the ringer for ya. By the time I'm done with 'em you'll have three fine new ninja ready for anything!"

He nodded. "Good, now we have other matters to attend to, the chunin exams are approaching and we have preparations to make."

* * *

The next Monday found the graduating class once again gathered in their classroom waiting for Iruka-sensei to show. There was a sense of weight in the air as many of them reflected both on what would be their last time in this room and on the many absent friends who had not made the cut. Other, less focused individuals, hadn't changed at all, as demonstrated by the two girls arguing over who got to sit next to Sasuke on the last day. Only to be interrupted when a certain blond jinchuriki jumped onto the Uchiha's desk to give him the stink-eye, and get knocked into a liplock by the arguing girls.

Shirou nearly fell out of his seat between his girls when the class exploded into laughter, Rin's being the loudest. Arturia had frozen in place, her face a bright red as she stared at where it had happened, barely noticing as the two boys hacked and gagged at the thought of what they had done.

Shirou looked around the classroom trying to find somewhere else to place his attention when he noticed Hinata's highly uncharacteristic glare at the Uchiha boy.

"Oh shit, Hinata's either getting jealous or possessive, possibly both, not a good sign."

Attention was diverted from the accidental homosexual incident when Iruka entered the room and called for everyone to settle down.

He looked out over the students with pride swelling in his chest.

"Well, this is it everyone. You've all come so far in these last few years and after today, when you've been assigned to your teams, you'll be taking your first real steps out into the world of ninja. I wish I could go with you, see just how far each of you can go, but my place is here and your new sensei are more than up to the task of finishing where I left off. All I ask is that you give it your best shot and do Konoha proud. As I call your names and assign the teams your new jonin-sensei will enter and take over. Please follow them from the room and give them your utmost attention, they have a lot to teach you after all."

* * *

"Team 5, Hyuuga Rin, Sarutobi Arturia and Hatake Shirou, your jonin instructor is Mitarashi Anko."

When the three of them looked at the door, expecting someone to come through, they nearly missed the kunai flying through the open window to embed itself into Iruka's desktop. He blinked twice in surprise before carefully unwrapping the note tied to the handle.

"It says Anko-sensei wants to meet you three on the roof immediately." He glanced up at the three of them as they gathered their bags. "Be careful, she can be a bit eccentric."

"Eccentric huh? Well she can't be that bad, she wouldn't be allowed to teach if she didn't have her head on straight. Right?" Rin glanced at the two walking to her right.

Shirou nodded. "Yah, but at least this is just supposed to be our first meeting, we need to get together tonight and finalize our preparations before the first training day."

They began climbing the stairs while Arturia kept oddly quiet.

"Something wrong Saber?" no response.

"Saber?" She looked up at Shirou and blinked owlishly. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry Shirou, did you say something?"

"We were just making plans to get together tonight. What's on your mind?"

"Oh, just trying to recall where I've heard our sensei's name before, it seems familiar for some reason."

They reached the top of the staircase and Arturia took the lead to open the door.

"Don't mind me, we'll just have to find out what she's like ourselves."

The three of them came to an abrupt halt outside the door. There, sitting in the middle of the roof where it had no right to be, was a large stage complete with read curtains. A drumroll started thundering out from a speaker somewhere while some stage lights began circling across the curtains. A deep male voice boomed over the drums.

" **Greetings new genin! Are you ready to meet the greatest teacher Konoha's ever seen?!"**

The three of them stood slackjawed at the ridiculous display

" **I can't hear you! I said. ARE YOU READY!"**

They figured there was only one way to get through this. They gave each other a quick nod and pumped their hands in the air.

" **WE'RE READY!"**

" **Then put your hands together for the one, THE ONLY! ANKO!"**

With a flash of fire from the stage floor the curtains flew open to reveal a young purple haired woman wearing a short skirt, long open trenchcoat, fishnet shirt, and nothing else…

She cartwheeled forward and landed in a seat that had appeared at the edge of the stage, the audio providing a round of applause before finally shutting down. She flashed her team a grin.

"So? What'cha think?"

Rin was the first to regain her composure, stepping forward to face the excited woman.

"Um, sensei? What the hell was that?"

Anko laughed before waving the other two over.

"That, Princess, was my first ever grand entrance as a jonin instructor. I wanted to make a big deal outta it for my first batch of kiddies. So, come on, how did I do?

Shirou scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, it was definitely a surprise. You clearly have a talent for showmanship Anko-sensei."

"Aww, thanks Fuzzball." She snickered at her nickname for him before turning her grin on Arturia. "You better watch out kid, the lion here is already sucking up to sensei." She placed her hands on her cheeks in mock horror. "Oh no! You don't think he might be trying to add me to his harem too! Oh I don't think my pure maiden's heart could resist his advances!"

She held the pose for about five seconds before breaking out in laughter at Arturia's confused expression.

"It seems you've done your homework _sensei_ ," Rin hissed at the giggling teacher, "but you've missed one important detail."

"Oh? What's that?"

Rin stepped between Shirou and Arturia and placed her arms around their waists.

"You missed that Fuzzball and Saber-chan are part of _my_ harem, not his. And you're going to have to ask nicely if you want in." she smirked at their teacher to try and fluster the purple troll.

"Haha, you're alright Princess, come on and take a seat," she pointed to the space around her chair onstage, "let's get down to business. I already know your names but I want to hear about what I didn't see in the gradebooks. Your goals, your hobbies, your dislikes, that kind of thing."

"You first," She pointed at Arturia, "and what's with the nickname? I usually hand those out myself, I'm kinda curious about why you already have one."

"Well, honestly I've had that nickname forever, we've been practicing our ninja lessons together since we were little kids. When I started showing interest in using a sword as my primary weapon I began carrying around a practice blade all the time. Rin just gave me the name out of the blue one day and it stuck. My goal is to become someone this village can rely on, someone who won't let her friends down when they need it. As a hobby I collect stuffed animals and I dislike arrogant people greatly."

"Huh, not a bad reason for a nickname I suppose, when did ya stop carrying the sword around?"

"Who said I did? I just graduated to a real blade." She gave a small smile as their teacher looked her over, clearly trying to find either a hidden blade or a hint of a lie.

Anko snorted dismissively. "Well, I'll just have to get the truth of that outta ya at our first training session. Princess, go!"

"My goal is rather simple. Anko-sensei, are you aware of the status of the Hyuuga branch family? Of the darker truth of their position?" Anko was a little surprised, the playful girl talking about harems was completely gone, Rin was dead serious about this.

"I know you main branch members brand them with some kinda seal to keep your Byakugan outta enemy hands."

Rin exhaled slowly. "There's more to it than that, the caged bird seal is also capable of immediately slaying any who bear it with just a series of hand signs from the Hyuuga clan head. The branch house members are slaves in all but name. My goal is to free them once I ascend to the role of clan leader. My position as heir is all but set in stone over my sweet sister Hinata and I refuse to see her branded with a death curse so I've been studying sealing jutsu with Shirou here. The Hyuuga clan has plenty of scrolls on the subject, things that were used to create the caged bird seal and even some old Uzumaki clan texts that have helped us along. I'm sure we can remove them now, I just have to wait until I'm old enough to free them officially as the clan head."

"As for hobbies, I like reading I suppose, and I heavily dislike those who value power over family or friends"

Anko really hoped the Fuzzball had a lighter response than that. She had known about the Hyuuga's slavery practices, it was a sort of an open secret among ninja who dealt with the clan frequently. After all, It's pretty hard to miss that every branch member carried a green tattoo on their forehead that they preferred to hide from their friends.

"Okaaayyyy, Fuzzball you're up."

"Well, I dislike womanizing perverts, I enjoy simple household chores, especially cooking, and my dream is to become a hero of justice." He said with a straight face, as if daring anybody to tell him his dream was foolish.

"A… hero of justice? Did I hear that right?" She looked at her other two students for some kind of clue that he was kidding. When she found a resigned smile on Rin and a sense of pride coming off Arturia, she felt she had to take the bait.

"Care to explain to the class Fuzzball?"

"Of course. A hero of justice, as I define it, is someone with the power to save everyone, that is my ideal, even though it may be naive, impossible even, that just makes it all the more worthwhile to strive for. In the meantime, until I find the strength I need to save everyone, I'll just have to settle for saving as many as I can. If I see someone in danger and it's within my power to help them then I will."

Anko was getting the feeling there was a long _long_ story involved with this goal that she wouldn't get today.

"Everyone? What if they're an enemy?"

"As I said, Until I have the power to save everyone, I'll save all those I can. Unfortunately for any enemy we come across I will fight them with everything I have. Enemies will only be within my power to save once they are no longer my enemies. Thus, the power I ultimately seek is the ability to acquire and enforce peace."

She scratched the back of her head, really wishing she had some tasty dango to help deal with all this.

"So let me get this straight. I've got a little swordswoman who wants to be able to support her friends, a princess who wants to radically alter the traditions of her noble clan, and a boy who wants to save the world. And people say I'm the crazy one."

"Well for me, my hobbies include eating dango with friends, I dislike gossiping fools who jump to conclusions and my goal is to kill a particular person who wronged me years ago. That should be enough show and tell for now, we've all got something of an idea about who we're working with so I'm gonna go get lunch. You brats have the rest of the day off but I want to meet you all over by training field 44 tomorrow morning at 8am. Bring your basic survival gear and all your ninja tools. We're gonna hit the ground running and get right into the meat of the basics so get some good sleep tonight."

She stood up and dusted off her skirt

"Later kiddos!" A quick blur of movement and she was gone.

Saber spoke up first. "Well, that went better than expected. Shall we head over to Rin's and get to work?" a rumbling growl came from her petite stomach caused her to fidget under her friend's knowing smiles. "Um, after lunch maybe?..."

"Sure Saber. Teuchi should let me use the grill at Ichiraku's if I handle a couple orders as payment. Let's go."

* * *

Ichiraku Ramen was right in the middle of the lunch rush when team 5 arrived so when Shirou offered to help Teuchi quickly put him to work. After a half hour things had died down a bit and Shirou had the time to join the girls at the counter. Rin had finished eating long before he dug into his first bowl of ramen and Arturia had a stack of ten empty bowls next to her. On the other side of the ceramic tower he caught a glimpse of spiky blond hair doing his best to match her pace.

"Hey Naruto. When did you get here?"

He heard a loud slurp before the stack of dishes was pushed aside by Naruto.

"Hey Shirou, I got here a little bit after you guys did. How'd your meeting with your teacher go?"

"She was, surprising…" he tried to keep his expression neutral. She had been nice enough but the flashy introduction was still pretty weird to him.

Rin looked up from where she had buried her face in her hands. "She was kinda nuts. You probably would have liked her Naruto. She had us meet her on the roof because she set up a stage with a light show and everything so she could make a big showy entrance. She has a good sense of humor at least."

Naruto grinned. "A big stage and light show? That's so cool! Our lazy ass sensei was over an hour late to pick us up but I showed him by pranking him when he finally turned up. Can you believe I actually got him with an eraser over the door frame? Haha, priceless!"

Arturia finished her last bowl with a satisfied sigh before looking over at Naruto.

"Normally I would have scolded you for pulling pranks on a teacher but, well, tardiness has to be punished after all. And you would think a teacher would have been eager to meet his new team."

"Yah, Kakashi-sensei's a nice guy but he's way too laid back and we hardly know anything about him. When we went around making introductions he just dodged the questions and got us to talk about ourselves." He crossed his arms in a huff. "Bad enough I've got that jerk Sasuke hogging all of Sakura-chan's attention, now I've got a sensei who's not even taking us seriously."

Rin spoke up again. "Hey Naruto, What's your team number?"

"Huh? It's team 7. Why'd you ask?"

"Well I was hoping you had stuck around the classroom long enough to know what team Hinata got placed on. I haven't seen her since class let out."

"Oh, she's on team 8 with Kiba and that Shino creep, I think their sensei's name was Kurenai or something."

"Ah, that's good. Kiba's a but rough around the edges but Shino's a capable guy and Kurenai has been one of Hinata's tutors for a few years already. She should be fine."

"Yah, Hinata's a smart girl, I'm sure she'll be alright." Naruto scratched his chin while somewhere across town Hinata sneezed lightly.

Shirou got up to leave. "Hey Naruto, let us know what your training schedule is like once you know it, we should find time to practice together or at least hang out sometime."

"That's a great idea Shirou! I'll see you guys later." He waved at his friends as they said their goodbyes and left the building.

* * *

The team arrived at training ground 44 at 8 o'clock the next morning decked out in their combat gear. Shirou wore a dull gray steel breastplate with segmented abdominal plates to prevent it from restricting his movement, his shirt underneath it was a thicker dark blue material with steel bracers protecting his forearms. His black pants and brown leather boots were protected by some simple metal shin guards and he wore Kanshou and Bakuya in two leather sheaths on his back right above a thick scroll on the back of his belt.

Rin was wearing traditional Hyuuga combat robes. Consisting of a dark grey hakama, black ninja sandles and a white top with long billowing sleeves that almost obscured her fingertips. The fingers themselves were each adorned with a silver ring capped with a sparkling red ruby. Her earrings and the pendant of her silver necklace were also rubies. In total the 11 gemstones were Rin's way of continuing the Tohsaka family's jewel magecraft. Each gem had been imprinted with a single spell and filled to the bursting point with more chakra than Rin could produce in a week. They were expensive to replace and time consuming to create but she found they would make fantastic trump cards.

Arturia appeared to be the least equipped of them. Her dark blue long sleeved shirt and black pants were much like Shirou's, even made of similar sturdy cloth, and her black leather boots were far more durable than the strange sandals most ninja favored. She and Shirou couldn't understand why ninja would consider open toed shoes of any kind to be acceptable military wear and without socks the ninja were just asking for blisters. Apart from her sensible combat clothes the only other thing she wore was the leaf headband at her neck and one of Shirou's scrolls she and Rin wore at the back of their belts.

"Is this really the right place?" Rin asked while casting a wary eye into the tree line beyond the electric fence.

Shirou crossed his arms in concern. "Well it says 'Training Ground 44' on that sign over there, but I'm pretty sure those warning signs under the name mean this place is reserved for ninja of at least chunin level."

Arturia placed her hand on her hips and shook her head in exasperation. "What in the world is Anko-sensei thinking?"

"Your cute sensei was thinking she would start things off by throwing you right into the meat grinder."

They spun around to face the grinning jonin standing behind them. One hand raised in greeting while the other held a stick of dango.

"Morning kiddos! We ready for our first training exercise?"

They grinned back at her and responded confidently.

"Yes Sensei!"

She laughed and took a bite of dango.

"That's the spirit! Let's hope you don't come to regret that enthusiasm later." Her eyes gleamed devilishly. "Now we can get started on your final genin test! I hope you brought enough supplies because this exercise could take a few days." She looked up and down Arturia's body. "Did you bring _anything_ along Saber? I told you to bring your ninja tools."

She smiled and touched the leaf headband at her neck. "I've got everything I need right here Anko-sensei. Now what did you mean by final test? We already passed didn't we?"

"Ha! As if that easy genin exam Iruka gave you could really determine who had what it takes to be ninja or not. No, the real test starts when your jonin instructors get ahold of you runts. On the first day we're supposed to give you our own personalized tests to see if you're really up to the challenge this lifestyle provides. Some teachers do teamwork exercises, some resort to sparing to judge individual skill, I on the other hand am going to test your proficiency as a tracker squad."

"Tracker squad?" Shirou looked confused, nobody had mentioned their squad would fulfill some kind of specialist roll.

"I get it," Rin put her hand to her chin in thought, "between my eyes and Shirou's nose we could make for a pretty good recon or hunter team. What are we supposed to do sensei?"

"Simple, It's called the bell test." She pulled open the right side of her coat to reveal two little bells hanging from her belt by some string. "I'm going to go into the Forest of Death and you're going to try to catch me. You have until sunrise on the third morning to get these bells away from me. If you get the bells you have to hold onto them until sunrise. So If the sun come up and you have the bells, you win! If the sun rises on day three and I have the bells, you lose. Pretty straightforward right?"

"Now remember, you won't have a chance if you don't come at me with everything you have, lethal force is both permitted and encouraged. Do whatever it takes to win or the wildlife might swallow you whole before you ever get close to the prize."

She walked over to the fence and cleared it with a high jump. Landing in a crouch on the other side she turned to her students. "That gate over there," she pointed down the fence about fifteen feet, "will open in thirty minutes. So do whatever until then. Later!" in a blur of movement she disappeared into the foliage. Leaving three confused genin behind.

Rin turned to her two friends. "Well let's get going then." She looked at the fence and gathered chakra into her throat, coating her voice with power and authority.

" **Earth Stil Tunneltechnik!"**

At her command the world responded to the jutsu and carved a tunnel under the fence and into the woods. She was about to begin crawling through when Arturia spoke up.

"Rin! We're supposed to wait until the gate opens in thirty minutes, what are you doing?"

"I'm being a ninja Saber-chan," she rolled her pale eyes, "Anko-snesei never said we had to wait here for the gates to open, she just said that they would open in a half hour. In fact she said we could 'do whatever' until then. That sounds like an invitation to take the initiative to me."

"Sounds good." Shirou crawled into the tunnel ahead of them. "Usual formation then? I'll take point while Rin handles rearguard."

Arturia followed her friends into the tunnel. "Of course Shirou. Rin, you'll be squad leader just like we practiced." Hauling herself out of the ground on the other side of the fence she dusted some of the mud off her pants. "Just give me a moment to change."

She thumbed the leaf on her headband and poured chakra into the fuinjutsu seal Shirou had etched into the underside of the metal plate. The storage seal responded and a burst of smoke obscured her from view for a moment. When it cleared Arturia's entire outfit had changed. Resting comfortably on her body was an entire suit of full plate armor. The matt grey steel lacked any polish that would ruin her stealth. Her headband was now bolted to the front of a high metal collar that reached all the way from her breastplate up to her mouth and continued on to wrap all the way around her neck. Her shoulders were capped with rounded pauldrens and the left one was somewhat larger, including a larger spaulder covering her upper arm. The gauntlets were also mismatched with the left one being thick enough to serve as a buckler shield. The skirt armor came down to her knee where her knee, shins, and boots had been encased in heavy metal.

Shirou's reality marble, The Unlimited Bladeworks, granted him complete knowledge of the history of any bladed weapon he set his eyes on, since this included the forging process Shirou had become quite a skilled metalworker because of his access to recordings of the creation of thousands of legendary blades. Since full plate armor was not something any ninja weapon shop would ever carry he had taken it upon himself to create a suit of armor Arturia could comfortably fight in. She had asked that Shirou not include a helmet in his masterpiece because she felt that the reduced field of vision would be more dangerous to a ninja than an unarmored head, He relented on the condition that he could include the high collar to protect her neck.

The most important part of her equipment change rested at her left hip. Sitting there in a blue scabbard decorated with a golden lion's head was a Bladeworks projection of her favorite blade. Caliburn, The Golden Sword of the Victorious. The very holy sword she pulled from the stone to claim her right as King of Britain. Though not as powerful as Excalibur, a sword Shirou was still unsure he would ever be able to recreate, Caliburn had always been her favorite blade and she was highly grateful he had been able to produce it for her.

Rolling her shoulders to get the plate to settle properly, she gave them a nod.

"I'm ready now. Lead the way."

Shirou inhaled deeply through his nose to lock onto Anko's chakra, it smelled like dango syrup, poison, and… arousal. He shook off that disturbing thought and shot off into the treetops with the girls right on his heels. Rin activated her Byakugan and began scouting as best she could from her rearguard position.

"I can't see her Shirou! Is she still within you're detection radius?" Shirou's maximum range was two miles and somehow Anko had already gotten far enough ahead to be outside his reach.

"Anko-sensei is outside my range for now but her trail is still strong, we should be able to close the distance soon." He called back to her. Arturia cruised forward in silence, the sound capturing seals Shirou placed on her armor's joints keeping her movements perfectly quiet.

"Great, just keep following the trail then, I'll keep an eye out for some of the more dangerous wildlife or any traps she might have left for us."

And just like that, their first mission had already begun.

* * *

Q&A time

OK one of the first things I would like to address, Rin's unusual use of that tunneling jutsu. Basically, Rin came to a certain conclusion about the jutsu used in the ninja world by drawing parallels with magic from her old home. She recognized the handseals used in jutsu as nothing more than a universally accepted Aria. For those of you unfamiliar with Fate/Stay Night, an Aria is an important part of magecraft that must precede any use of magic. Essentially it is a form of self hypnosis that the mage uses to convince themselves that the spell they are about to perform is in fact possible. They need to convince themselves that reality is their bitch before they actually begin to fuck with physics. Once the Aria puts the mage in the right mindset the magic can begin. Aria's vary widely and can technically be anything as long as it properly resonates with an individual mage's mind. Usually Aria are pretty unique. Shirou, for example, always begins his magic with the Aria "Trace On," always spoken in English, even in the Japanese Dub. Rin on the other hand chants the name of the spell in German, for whatever reason the Japanese girl casts using a language from a place I doubt she's ever had to visit.

Rin figured that the handseals were just a universally accepted Aria. Ninja can easily convince themselves that their magic will work because everyone _knows_ handseals make jutsu function. Because of this Rin has refused to study handseals beyond what the academy needed for tests, instead she has stuck to her old Aria since it will leave her hands free and prevent her opponent from identifying a jutsu based on its seals. She's casting using a language no person in the elemental nations could possibly have knowledge of, that's one hell of an advantage.

Shirou has tried applying his old Aria to the new jutsu but has had trouble making them work together so far. Arturia is just going with the hand seals since she was never taught much magecraft.

Speaking of Rin's German, I need to apologize to any of my German speaking readers. I am only capable of speaking American English, I've tried to learn Spanish but I failed rather spectacularly, basically I have no talent for languages and because of that I'm resorting to Google translate ~ _shudder_ ~ so I'm sorry if Rin completely butchers your language whenever she casts a spell but that's just how it's going to have to be.

Excalibur= Now this is probably going to be a hot topic but I'll try to explain myself. At frist I was going to put Excalibur in the story, even though I had never seen Shirou use it in the Anime most fanfiction I've read here have had him use it at one point or another, It was only after an anonymous comment on the last chapter claimed he couldn't use it did I doubt my decision. I did some research and it turns out that Shirou can't project Excalibur at all, the reason for this is pretty simple. Excalibur Is comprised of the crystalized hopes and dreams of humanity, forged by the gods in the center of the earth. Shirou can't copy it because he has no idea how the fuck it was made, his structural grasp just can't comprehend it. In the Heaven's Feel route Archer mentioned that he might be able to create an imperfect copy but that the mana drain would easily kill him. So sorry guys but Saber will have to settle for her favorite sword, Caliburn.

The only other concern from last time that could be considered really important was a fear that Avalon could be heavily abused. Don't worry, It will be… But seriously, I'm going to tone down the bullshit that is Avalon by weakening it's power a bit. It will still provide health regen but its _invincible fairy bubble_ is going to have a huge chakra drain associated with it, Even Saber won't be able to use it frequently. Don't worry too much about it, I'll make it work out somehow.

Well that's it for this chapter, remember feel free to leave a comment and have a good night.


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